Allison

Allisonisanadventureseriessetinaworldcontainingonecontinent(extendingroughlyfromtheEquatorto60degreesNorthlatitude)whichisdivideddownthecenterbyatoweringmountainrangeandahugeriver.TheindustryandtechnologyoftheworldareroughlyequivalenttoEuropeinthe1930s.Duetothegeography,twoculturesdevelopedoneithersideofthedivide,andatthetimethestorybegins,thecultureshavebeenatwaronandoffforhundredsofyears.Thebloodiestconflictyetbeganthirty-fiveyearsbeforethestartofthestory;bothsidesaresoexhaustedbytheconflictthatanuneasyarmisticeissignedaftersomefiveyearsoffighting.Asidefromabriefconflictoverthejurisdictionoftheriver,resultingintheformationofabufferzoneoneitherside,thispeacehaslargelybeenunbroken.TheeastsideoftheworldisknownasRoxche,thoughformallytheregion’snameistheRoxcheanukConfederation.Theentireregioncomprisessixteencountrieswhichallspeakacommonlanguage.ThewestsideisknownasSouBeil,thoughformallytheregion’snameistheAlliedKingdomsofBezelIltoa.TheregioncomprisesthetwokingdomsofBezelandIltoawhichbothservetobringtogetherasmallnumberofcountriesunderacommonlanguagedifferentthanthatoftheeasternregion.Therearefarmoreblond-hairedpeopleintheWestthantheEast.

Atthebeginningofthefirstnovel,Allison,apilotintheRoxcheAirForce,hascometovisitherchildhoodfriendWilhelm(“Wil”forshort),whohasremainedatschooloverhissummerbreaktocontinuehisstudies.Whiletravelinginthecountrysideneartheschool,thetwoencounteranoldmanwell-knowntoWil’sschoolmatesasatelleroftalltales.Nevertheless,hecapturestheirinterestwithhistalkabouta“treasure”which,iffound,issaidtobeabletoputanendtothewar.Noonewouldbelievehimthatthewarbetweenthecountriescouldeverend,sonoonelistenedtohim.WhentheoldmanisabductedandtakenovertoSouBeil,AllisonandWilstealanairplaneandchasetheabductorsacrosstheriverintothenextregion.Fortunately,thetwowereraisedasorphansbyawomanwhocamefromtheWest,andthuscanspeakbothlanguages.